Chương 72: Ultimatum

Today was a fantastic day! Chris, May, and Jairo had built up quite a positive reputation to the point they were tasked with working a simultaneous promotional-and-security position at a concert at Scott Stadium as their heroic personas. The genre didn't appeal to most of them, the event was for a country singer, but it was a great opportunity for them to really establish themselves as heroes and personas instead of just another arm of law enforcement. That alone was highly motivational!

Of course, their fourth member couldn't participate. Nor did he want to, given he rather aggressively turned down the offer. Chris didn't take it to heart, he knew the struggles Leo was going through, so he just left the VIP pass they provided for Leo on the little kitchen island. It was up to him to decide what he wanted. The group costumed up and were taken by Billy up to the stadium at about noon-time.

The event was set to happen closer to the evening, but they needed to go through rehearsals, recognize when coordinated events would go off, the like. When they arrived, they were led into an office where an older man and a woman who was just about Christian's age, maybe a bit older, were waiting. The man spoke first, his drawl thick and apparent.

"Howdy-doo, kiddos," he stated, limping over to the group and putting out a hand.

"Name's Freddy Scott, I'm the 'manager' of the stadium. Technically UVA owns it but I inherited the management position from my daddeh." The man went through and shook hands with each hero.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Scott!" Chris called out, prompting a shaken head from the manager.

"No no, you call me Freddy. Mr. Scott was my grandfather. But I'll be the one overseeing all the operations for Ms. Calamity Jane's concert here," he explained, gesturing to the younger woman. With a wave, Ms. Calamity Jane spoke.

"Hi there, guys! Don't really have much to say myself, I'm trusting Freddy with making sure everything works out. Really excited to work with you all, though!" Freddy took over from there.

"Right, right, so we're having you as security in case those tree freaks decide to crash the party. I know Chief Tancred told me the odds were slim just because of where all of those trees were popping up, but I didn't wanna risk it. But you'll be getting to enjoy the concert, go around, show off your stuff. I know one of you does light stuff, would that be... you?" He asked, pointing at Spectroma. May nodded, putting on a big smile.

"Yeah! Did you want me to do a little light show? I should be able to do something for that if you want." He laughed, clapping his hands together.

"That'd be awesome! You can go over it with my son Fred, he's handling the lighting systems. But I just wanted to go over the basic beats of the concert so you know what's going on and nothing surprises you." Flowstate nodded, clasping his hands and keeping them low.

"That'd be super good, go right ahead!"

"Right, right, so what's gonna happen is we're gonna have a couple local bands do some openers until eight-thirty, then Calamity Jane's gonna come on with this big pyro sequence. We're gonna have a few stuntmen come on and try to interrupt the concert. You all come in, just do a little scripted throw down and save her, and then she's just gonna go right into it. At nine o'clock exactly, not gonna miss a minute..." Freddy spanned his hands out.

"Pow! Fireworks! It's all on this automated system I bought, the timers are all set and everything. We got a bunch, too. It's gonna look like daytime!" Some amused noises came from the group.

"I love fireworks!" said Flowstate.

"I'm super excited, let's do this."

"Oh I like you kids already." And with that, they dedicated the afternoon to rehearsal, practice, and most importantly: Casing. Flowstate took as much time as he could studying the stadium itself to figure out where emergency exits were, potential security gaps, places people could come in. He got the idea from a frankly silly question, in his opinion: "What would Leo do if he had to run security?" It seemed useful to him at the time, and he wasn't seeing any issues with the attempt, at least.

Spectroma and Teiú meanwhile focused on asking questions to the security personnel on-site, being assured that everything was spick-and-span. One did mention a hitch in the radio system early yesterday but they've seen no evidence of that happening again, which means they're treating it as simply a fluke incident. With all set and done, the event was ready to begin. Lights and cheering and yelling, probably the densest crowd any of them had ever seen in their lives.

As the opening bands did their medleys, The New Sentinels had prepared and rehearsed, ready to assist Calamity Jane in the event. Under the building clouds of the evening, no one seemed daunted by the rainfall that came towards the end of the openers. People simply brought out umbrellas and tents. When the time arrived, it was executed flawlessly.

A trio of men dressed in leather jackets and gas masks pretended to accost her only to be tossed over by Flowstate, "blasted" by Spectroma, and "knocked out" by Teiú, before they all struck a pose. As Calamity Jane thanked them and approached the microphone, however, her voice was cut out mid-act of gratitude. Then the noise came. Wingbeats. Heavy, thunderous. Ones they had heard before.

Before they even had time to turn towards the sound, a mighty THOOM cracked through the air and dirt was kicked up as high as twenty feet in the air from the sudden impact. As the dust and debris cleared, they could see a familiar foe. Technofiend. His body was sharper, broader, larger than before by at least half a foot. It also looked far more improvised despite the more menacing appearance. Behind him was a massive cylinder of some sort, easily twelve feet tall and fifteen feet across." HELLO, FOOLISH MEATBAGS!

THE LAST GATHERING I ATTEMPTED TO INTERRUPT WAS PUNISHED BY THE MANGY, SKIN-CLAD 'HEROES' AS THEY CALL THEMSELVES! TODAY, I SHALL GET REVENGE ON THE ONES IN PARTICULAR WHO DESTROYED MY PREVIOUS BODY! THE BEAST AND THE MAD KILLER!" Jeers and boos and screams of terror echoed across the stadium while the three New Sentinels were already rushing off stage to interrupt. Raindrops clattered off of the metallic man, the glow from various internal parts of his body refracting in the storm." DO NOT BOTHER CALLING FOR HELP!

ALL OF YOUR COMMUNICATION DEVICES HAVE BEEN INTERCEPTED, AS HAVE ALL WIRED SYSTEMS. THIS ARENA, AND ALL OF YOU, ARE UNDER THE IMPRISONMENT OF..." The jumbotron behind him snapped from camera footage of himself to a collage of the same little cartoonish devil image used in the ransomware program he infected The New Sentinels' phones with, alongside one name: TECHNOFIEND Technofiend cheered out that name at the same time.

Teiú had wanted to rush in first, but strict orders from Flowstate kept them moving together in order to prevent him from being impaled." AND I LEARNED MY LESSON FROM LAST TIME! NO MORE HIRELINGS! I'VE DEVISED MY OWN WARRIORS!" Technofiend dug a robotic hand into the massive cylinder behind him, ripping off the surrounding surface like wrapping paper. Inside were a swarm of curled up, almost skeletal-looking machines. Atop their metal skulls were a pair of tiny horns.

With their cover removed, they all began to stand up, small wings spanning across their backs, and they rocketed off from their base and into the crowds." THE TECHNOIMPS!" As the swarm flew out into the crowd, Spectroma attempted shooting down as many as possible, but there were far more than she could see. They piled into the audiences, lining up around the entire arena with menace." DO NOT BOTHER TRYING TO KILL THEM ALL INDIVIDUALLY. THEY SELF-REPLICATE.

HOWEVER, THE ONES IN THE AUDIENCE WILL NOT ATTACK YET, PRETENDER-'HEROES.'" Technofiend raised a thick metallic claw." INSTEAD, THEY ARE GOING TO GUARANTEE THE RULES OF A LITTLE GAME I AM GOING TO PLAY." Pointing to the Jumbotron, a timer appeared. 25: 00 Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on." I WAS DEFEATED IN A HUMILIATING TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES LAST TIME.

IF I AM UNDEFEATED IN THIS SAME WINDOW, THEN I WILL HAVE PROVEN MYSELF UPGRADED AND SUPERIOR, AND MY VICTORY ASSURED. MY PRIZE WILL BE THAT THE TECHNOIMPS CAN AND WILL KILL EVERYONE HERE!" More Technoimps flocked to surround Technofiend, bearing long and sharp claws." OF COURSE, I WILL NOT PLAY FAIR. I WILL HAVE HELP." 24: 59 The second swarm flocked towards The New Sentinels.

Their thinner frames proved no match for the force of Spectroma's blasts, which she sent out in bursts and wads to clear through the flying ones in droves. Teiú lunged into the grounded crowd upon approval from Flowstate, leaving scrap-metal in his wake as he raced for Technofiend. Flowstate stayed to maintain interception on the ground for Spectroma, procuring one of his tonfa.

Every one that lunged for her was hurled away or split apart at the joints, resulting in their pairing being effectively an unstoppable armored ballista. 24: 21 As Teiú reached Technofiend and went for a punch, he tore a chunk out of Technofiend's midsection. As the area began to mend together, Teiú began targeting other areas in a flurry of blows, doing everything he could to outpace the mending.

Technofiend, meanwhile, just stood there with his hands on his hips, laughing at an effort that was looking more and more futile." I'M DISAPPOINTED. YOU AND THE KILLER WERE THE ONES WHO DEFEATED ME LAST TIME. IT SEEMS JUST ONE OF YOU IS NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH! NOW LET ME SHOW YOU A REAL PUNCH!" WHAM Technofiend's metallic fist slammed into Teiú's own midsection, the fist pushing him up and up until sending the monstrous hero flying into the air, deep into the cloudy sky."

HE SHOULD BE BACK AFTER I'VE FINISHED KILLING YOU TWO," he boasted, pointing to Flowstate and Spectroma as he beat his massive wings and rocketed towards them. Upon realizing the incoming attack, Spectroma grabbed Flowstate by the shirt and blasted at the ground, sending both of them hurtling up to avoid the initial strike as Technofiend flew under them. 23: 48 Upon landing, they had a short second to re-assess their situation.

The Technoimps had thinned down to a point that Spectroma could focus on the primary threat while Flowstate could handle horde. One of Technofiend's arms opened up, beginning to shoot a cylindrical pulse of a sickly yellow light at Spectroma. The same one that turned a van into embers. She remembered, and immediately took to blasting it away, only for him to fire another, and another as he approached.

While he had her busy knocking beams away, he grew closer and closer, before sweeping a claw at her, prompting her to duck down onto her back. Rolling away from him at that point, she blasted the ground point blank to hurl herself over him, reorienting in the air and landing on her good foot with a grunt." NIMBLE LITTLE GNAT." 23: 01 Flowstate desperately worked towards clearing up the horde as much as possible, but they kept coming back and back, sometimes splitting into pairs just to pile on him further.

Only two minutes so far and he was already agonized from straining his body. As he looked over at Spectroma and Technofiend, he didn't have much confidence in that battle either. The two blasting heroes continued their clashes, though Technofiend kept on the lead through sheer endurance. Spectroma was tiring herself out from having to constantly lunge around, and 22: 01 After another minute of battle she just couldn't handle, she shakily stood her ground." THERE WE GO. NOW YOU'RE STILL."

VWEEM VWOM She blasted away another shot from him, causing him to let out an awful synthesized groan." I SUPPOSE THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN'T KEEP THAT UP." The hand that was making the blasts began to spin and whir, yellow light emanating from it with greater and greater intensity. VWEEEEEEEEEW A beam rocketed out from the hand, this time unbreaking. Spectroma had no time. It was do or die. At that same moment, it occurred to her that her body was soaked from rain. She was covered in lenses.

There was something she could do. The blast struck at her, but instead of reducing her to embers, it washed across her body, radiating out in an almost angelic glow as she slowly pushed towards Technofiend, hellbent on a ridiculous plan." WHAT ON EARTH-" She pushed all the way as close as possible, before finally letting that radiating light go right back to sender. VWOMMM And in the dust of the great blast of light...... There he stood. The static metal face finally expanded into an awful grin." PALLADIUM PLATING.

NOTHING TO CARBONIZE. YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T PREPARED TO TASTE MY OWN MEDICINE, SKINBAG?" With a swat, Spectroma was sent sprawling out into the grass. 20: 44 The horde of Technoimps finally stopped storming Flowstate, all kneeling as Technofiend approached." I'VE READ ABOUT YOU. ALLEGED LEADER. ALL YOU ARE IS A MORTAL. THE OTHERS HAVE ABILITIES THAT WOULD HERALD THEM AS GODS. WHAT HAS YOU AND YOUR SUPERIORS SO CONVINCED YOU ARE TO LEAD THEM?"

Christian sighed, body heavy with an exhaustion nothing before had ever inflicted upon him, before simply raising his fists.

"Heart."" THEN THAT IS WHAT I WILL RIP OUT AND EXPERIMENT ON." If the flurry of swings Leo tried to lay upon Flowstate was an avalanche, Technofiend's was a landslide. Even managing to avoid blows was still met with shockwaves and collateral that sent his skin raw and filled his ears with white noise. He could barely even keep his eyes open." PATHETIC. YOU'RE DODGING ME. I'M NOT EVEN HITTING YOU, AND YET YOU RECOIL IN PAIN. THE KILLER WAS FAR MORE IMPRESSIVE. WHERE IS HE?"

"Doing-!" Flowstate yelled, weaving below a swing.

"Better things-!" He ducked.

"Than dealing-!" He slipped, trying to land a counter-blow into Technofiend's midsection with his tonfa. It failed to do any harm "With you!"" YOU CAN'T HURT ME, HUMAN. I'M SO FAR BEYOND YOU ALL." A mechanical limb shot out from his chest to catch Flowstate by the neck right after he ducked under another swing, lifting him up." AT THIS POINT, I SHOULD JUST BREAK YOUR NECK HERE AND NO-" KLANG Technofiend stood, a fist-width gouge torn from cranium to crotch, as both halves fell to either side.

Behind him was Teiú, fist down in the ground, with a bowling-ball sized crater. He, similarly, fell over afterwards, the visible scales on his limbs regressing. 20: 10 As Flowstate pushed back to his feet, all he could feel was dread as the two halves yanked themselves back together with wires and cables, reforming him as though nothing had occurred." UNFORTUNATELY, I KNOW BETTER THAN TO LEAVE ANYTHING IMPORTANT IN MY HEAD." With a whip-coil like slap, the fatigued Flowstate was sent sprawling into the dirt."

IS THAT IT? FIVE MINUTES AND YOU ARE ALL AT DEATH'S DOOR? THIS IS WHO DEFEATED ME BEFORE? PATHETIC!" He pointed a metal claw at the Jumbotron." HUMANS. YOU HAVE TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE YOUR DEATH. I WILL SHARE YOU THE FINAL MERCY OF WAITING FOR YOUR DEMISE, SO THAT YOU CAN PRAY THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, THE KILLER CAN SAVE YOU. BUT HE WILL NOT." The tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. 19: 41 17: 13 12: 09 6: 05 None of the New Sentinels could stand.

Beaten and broken, they themselves took to praying internally for some sort of change. None came. Only more rain to saturate the silent despair." DISAPPOINTING. THIS IS THE ATTEMPT YOUR LEADERS HAVE MADE TO GIVE YOU ALL HEROES! YOUR DEATHS WILL BE SOLACE FROM THE EMBARRASSMENT THEY HAVE LAID UPON YOU. THESE REMAINING FEW MINUTES ARE POINTLESS, IT IS TIME TO DI-" THOOM Dirt and dust rocketed through the air from an impact that shook the entire stadium. The stadium's spotlights pointed down at the pile.

As it cleared, colors could be visible. Blue. And orange. Hercules had answered their prayers." Here I am."